What you should know about changes to the 2017 EMDG program 09 May 2017

The EMDG program reopens for applications on 1 July 2017, but what’s changed?

In a presentation to the Export Consultants Association Incorporated National conference in March this year, Austrade clarified the changes to the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) program. These changes will affect all 2017 lodgements.

The changes relate to expenses incurred from 1 July 2016 and are outlined below:

Communications: This category of expenses (covering the cost of international phone calls and the like), along with the commonly used 3% uplift, is being completely removed from the program.

Free Samples: An expenditure cap of $15,000 will be placed on this category. This cap will apply to all lodgements except those of first year applicants. For first year applicants claiming free sample expenditure in the 2015-16 year, no limit applies.

Marketing Visits: Ground transportation costs such as trains, buses and taxis will no longer be claimable under this category. To compensate for this, Austrade is increasing the marketing visit daily allowance from $300 per day to $350. For first time lodgers, this is retrospective and will apply to the 2015-16 year.

This means applicants will no longer need to keep copies of ground transport receipts, which we are sure you are as happy about as we are! However, be aware that if you are claiming expenses under the overseas representative category for travel, you will still be able to claim ground transport costs for your overseas representative’s travel.

Excluded Expenses: Promotional activities or materials that may have a detrimental effect on Australia’s reputation have been added to the exclusions list.

All other expense categories remain unchanged for the 2017 EMDG program. We recommend you beat the November rush (when 40% of EMDG applications are lodged), and get in touch with Glasshouse Advisory now to discuss options for early lodgement of your EMDG application.